1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to automated call establishment systems, and more particularly to a system and method for analyzing outbound calling campaigns.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Automated call establishment systems are used by various industries to deliver prerecorded messages to business contacts for a wide range of reasons. These systems are commonly found in the credit and banking industries, just to name a few, and can be used to notify a customer of a problem with their account, such as a suspected incidence of fraud or a delinquent payment. These systems typically dial pre-identified telephone numbers automatically and transmit the prerecorded message to the customer or contact once the call has been answered. The prerecorded message can vary depending on whether the call is answered by a live individual or a machine. In some cases, for example, when an answering machine is detected, a message may not be left.
Different progress analysis systems use different methods to determine if a call has been answered by a live contact or by an automated answering machine. These systems typically rely on audio signals received from a far end subscriber. However, such call progress tones are sometimes unavailable or may be imperceptible. Moreover, this type of system is usually unable to distinguish a live human voice from a prerecorded voice. Other known systems may rely on the length of the greeting received after the line goes off the hook. Similarly, such systems may calculate the length of a silent pause detected after the receipt of an initial greeting. However, such systems are frequently prone to error where, for example, background noise on the contact's end of the line prevents the detection of a silent pause or an accurate calculation of its duration. Other systems that apply speech recognition tools to identify certain words or word patterns are also susceptible to common errors.
Vendors who offer automated call establishment services commonly claim a widely varying success rate for detecting a live answer versus a prerecorded voice. Regardless of whether the vendor claims a high or low success rate, there is usually no factual support for the vendors' claims. However, in most outbound calling campaigns, knowledge relating to the success rate of an automated call establishment system can be valuable. Where such systems present messages that are not received favorably, the messages can be changed. Likewise, if the system receives a hang-up prior to the delivery of its substantive message, calling times and messages can be altered accordingly until more favorable responses are received. Knowledge of a system's success rate may also determine the likelihood of the vendor being retained for future campaigns. Accordingly, where a vendor can substantiate a claim for a high success rate in delivering automated messages, a significant advantage can be attained in the industry.
Accordingly, what is needed is an improved system and method for analyzing outbound calling campaigns that monitors the campaigns according to predetermined criteria in order to verify the success rate of the automated call establishment system.